This report deals with the integration of individuals originating
from the six non-western immigrant countries of Iran, Iraq, Pakistan,
Somalia, Turkey and Vietnam and their descendants in Sweden in the
ten-year period 1998-2008. The central aim of the report is to analyse
the integration patterns of these groups in three important areas:
demographic behaviour, educational enrolment and labour market
integration. This research has three objectives. The first is to determine
when the groups came into being and how they have developed, with
a focus on key features of population change, i.e. the overall growth,
components of growth and age-sex-structure shifts. The second
objective is to analyse two specific aspects: the groups’ integration and
participation in the educational system, i.e. educational enrolment, and
their integration patterns in the labour market, with a main focus on
employment and unemployment. In order to provide a bridge between
the analyses of population change and integration, compositions of the
groups by selected traits, such as immigrant generation and duration
of residence, are also examined. The third objective is to study, where
feasible, the impact of selected public policies and practices, particularly
those pertaining to immigration and integration.
Over the last six decades the size of Sweden’s immigrant population
(immigrants and their descendants) has steadily increased. Migration
flows into the country have been associated with societal phenomena
such as labour demand in the growing economy, family reunions and
refugee streams due to wars and political conflicts. Although earlier
migration streams appear to have integrated relatively well, concern
about the current streams is high on the political agenda. It is thought
that more in-depth knowledge about the integration patterns of the
demographic, educational and labour market domains could lead to
improved integration policies.
In 2010, almost one fifth of Sweden’s population consisted of
immigrants or descendants of immigrants. To be more exact, 14.7 per
cent of the country’s 9,415,570 inhabitants are immigrants in Sweden.
Descendants of immigrants amount to 412,960 persons, or 4.4 per cent
of the total population. In other words, immigrants from the countries
that are in focus in this report and their descendants constitute 20 per
cent of the immigrant population in Sweden, with individuals from
Iraq making up the largest immigrant group and people from Pakistan
the smallest.
Since the end of the 1960s Sweden has made use of a number of
integration strategies to accommodate immigrants into several areas
of society. Of these, Swedish language proficiency and integration
into the economic domain have been the most important. According
to The Migrant Integration Policy Index (2007), Sweden scores very
highly when it comes to granting immigrants access to and rights in
the labour market.
To summarise the most important results and at the same time
return to the first objective of this study, namely the demographic
integration in the period 1998-2008, we can see that all six immigrant
groups have grown. In particular, the Iraqi and Somali groups have
experienced a substantial increase in number. For Iran, Iraq, Somalia
and Vietnam the growth is due to both net migration and an increasing
number of descendants. For Pakistan, the main reason for the
increase is net migration. Overall, the population growth in Sweden
in this period is mainly a result of net migration and higher birth
rates among immigrants and to a somewhat lower degree their
descendants. As might be expected, “older” immigrant groups that
have been in Sweden for a longer period of time have more descendants
than “younger” immigrant groups. Iran, Turkey and Vietnam
can be depicted as “older” groups and Iraq, Pakistan and Somalia as
“younger” ones.
With the exception of Iran, all the immigrant groups show a
higher crude birth rate than that for native Swedes. The immigrant
groups are still younger than the native population and have a far
lower crude death rate than natives. In general, immigrants are
married to individuals from the same group, whereas their descendants
tend to be married to natives or individuals from other
immigrant groups. The total fertility rate is higher among most of
the immigrant groups compared to that for natives. Again, Iranian
women are the exception, where descendants show a lower fertility
rate than their immigrant parents.
The second objective of the study – to analyse two specific aspects
of the integration of the groups – includes participation in the educational
system, i.e. educational enrolment, and integration patterns in
the labour market, with a focus on employment and unemployment.
When it comes to enrolment in education, the immigrant groups show
a variation. Iraqi and Iranian men and women, as well as males from
Pakistan and females from Vietnam, match the enrolment levels of
native men and women in the age group 16-19. Moreover, the descendants of immigrants generally show a higher enrolment level than their
immigrant counterparts.
A positive development is visible over time. Both immigrants and
descendants have higher enrolment levels in education at the end of the
period compared to the beginning, i.e. 2008 versus 1998. However,
Somali men and women have a lower enrolment level at the end of the
period compared to the start. Major migration to Sweden and difficulties
of entering the regular educational system could be reasons for
this result.
Descendant females show a higher enrolment level than descendant
males. The pattern is similar for immigrants, but at a lower level.
For higher education, the results indicate a gender gap with more
female than male students.
The employment integration of individuals in the core labour market
ages of 25-54 is relatively low. However, a positive trend is visible over
time. Both females and males from the six immigrant groups have higher
employment rates at the end of the period. The gender gap shows that
males have higher employment levels than females. The largest gap is
detected for Pakistan and Turkey.
The employment rates for young immigrants aged 16-24 are lower
than those for natives. For women we see no positive development over
time, but for males an increasing employment rate is visible. Male and
female descendants in this age group have lower employment rates than
natives, but higher employment rates than their immigrant counterparts.
Following the cohort of 25-39 year-old immigrants over time
from 1998 to 2003 to 2008, increasing employment levels can be
observed for both females and males. The exceptions are Pakistani
and Somali males, which show no increasing employment levels
between 2003 and 2008.
The unemployment rate for both immigrant females and males
drops during the ten-year period, with the exception of Iraqi and Somali
immigrants. Female youth unemployment also drops over time for most
immigrant groups, again with the exception of Somali immigrants. For
males, youth unemployment also decreases. The exceptions here are
Iraqi, Somali and native males. Descendant unemployment levels are
mainly in parity with or lower than native levels.
Inactivity is higher for all immigrant groups compared to natives.
However, the inactivity rate drops substantially over the period.
With regard to the third objective of the study – to provide insights
into the impact of selected public policies and practices, particularly
those pertaining to immigration and integration on the chosen aspects
of change and integration – we can highlight the following issues.
No particular integration policy aimed at immigrant groups deals
with demographic aspects. The observed change in the demographic
behaviour of the descendants of the six immigrant groups, albeit to
differing degrees, is voluntary and shows an adaption to the behaviour
of the population in general.
Integration policies have a strong focus on educational and labour
market integration in Sweden. In addition to the general positive
economic business cycle, the economic integration of six immigrant
groups and their descendents shows a gradual positive development.
Integration policies aimed at immigrants and education policies
aimed at the population in general have also had an effect on the
successive larger educational enrolment of immigrants and their
descendents.

Publisher

Malmö Institute for Studies of Migration, Diversity and Welfare (MIM) and Department of International Migration and Ethnic Relations (IMER), Malmö University